Arizona has followed in the footsteps of Texas and California, states that have increased their military presence on the border with Mexico. Katie Hobbs, the state's Democratic governor, signed an executive order on Friday that calls for the deployment of the National Guard in several communities affected by the increase in irregular immigration in the coming months. Hobbs, the first Democrat to govern the area in 14 years, is following the lead of her Republican predecessors, who sent the military to help police the area. But the gesture underscores the shift Democrats are taking on immigration and border security ahead of the 2024 elections.
“Despite continued requests for assistance, the Biden administration has refused to provide the resources needed at the Arizona border,” Hobbs said in his executive order issued Friday afternoon. The governor has not indicated how many National Guard agents she will deploy. However, in previous governments around 300 soldiers had been mobilized. The presence of this force in the region is widespread. The last group sent by Hobbs' predecessor, Doug Ducey, withdrew in September. They had been there since April 2021.
A lot has changed in the area since then. Since December 4, President Joe Biden's administration has closed the Lukeville Port of Entry, the main port of entry for Puerto Peñasco and Sonoyta, Sonora. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement that it needs staff at this border crossing to process newly arrived immigrants. The community is located in the Sonoran Desert and has temperatures approaching 50 degrees. Despite these hostile conditions, it was a popular crossing for migrants from Asia and Africa. The area recorded its highest number of crossings this year since 2008.
The border protection sector overseeing the area says it has arrested citizens from Pakistan, China, Senegal and Mauritania, rare nationalities in the region. CBP figures also suggest it is a common passage for migrants from Ecuador, Bangladesh and Egypt who begin their journey to the United States on a route that has Nicaragua as a starting point. In the last week of November, authorities arrested 17,500 people in the Tucson sector (which includes the remote Lukesville area). Border Patrol made an average of about 2,500 arrests per day, a significant increase from the 1,700 in September, when the area was already one of the busiest points along the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border.
The closure of the border crossing ordered by Washington was sharply criticized by the state's most prominent political figures, including Senators Mark Kelly and the controversial Kyrsten Sinema, who declared herself an independent and is running for office in November 2024. Kelly, Sinema and Hobbs issued a joint statement saying the closure further destabilized the border by harming communities and impacting local trade and tourism. The closure of the checkpoint, whose reopening has not yet been announced, has attracted extensive coverage in the local press. It is said that the place, also called Rocky Point, has become a ghost town.
The troops deployed by Hobbs will assist in the Lukeville and San Miguel area to stop fentanyl trafficking, reduce human trafficking and support local police in these communities. The governor also said she would increase the presence of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the state police. He also did not disclose how many agents will join these duties. Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, the country's largest Democratic stronghold, also increased the presence of National Guard troops at customs in the entity. The number of uniformed personnel increased from 40 to 60 at each intersection. He did this to increase the number of seizures of fentanyl, the opioid that has caused tens of thousands of deaths in the country.
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